Comments on: Brain surgery changes boy's accenthttp://boingboing.net/2007/09/18/brain-surgery-change.html
Brain candy for Happy MutantsMon, 15 Sep 2014 23:11:17 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1By: Anonymoushttp://boingboing.net/2007/09/18/brain-surgery-change.html#comment-18962
Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000#comment-18962Someone beat me to the foreign accent syndrome link to wikipedia. I’d just like to add that it’s not as rare as wiki says it is. I’ve seen two cases in my relatively brief neuropsychology career (both following a stroke) and several of the speech therapists I worked with had seen several a piece. When there are only so many “reported” cases the question is begged, “reported to whom?”
]]>By: Not a Doktorhttp://boingboing.net/2007/09/18/brain-surgery-change.html#comment-18806
Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000#comment-18806Weird things happen when you brain your damage.
]]>By: ill lichhttp://boingboing.net/2007/09/18/brain-surgery-change.html#comment-18823
Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000#comment-18823Usually when I’ve heard of this type of thing happening it involves a foreign accent appearing after a car accident. This is the first I’ve ever heard of a different (“domestic”) regional dialect appearing after brain damage/surgery.

As an American I would liken it to a Bostonian coming out of surgery with a Georgia accent (or the reverse)– it would be quite confusing to friends and relatives, and would instigate a lot of hassles and unwanted conversation (a la “My what a lovely accent, how long are you visiting here for?”)

I’m waiting for an episode of House where Hugh Laurie talks like an Englishman.

]]>By: acbhttp://boingboing.net/2007/09/18/brain-surgery-change.html#comment-20144
Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000#comment-20144Actually, Received Pronunciation is not quite the same as a “posh” English accent; RP is also known as “BBC English”, because it was the default accent of BBC announcers in decades past. A posh accent is more like how the Queen used to speak, and is even further exaggerated. One can think of the differences as being between a business suit and a tuxedo.

That being said, neither the Queen nor BBC announcers now speak as they used to; class not being what it used to be in Britain, they have, in both cases, moved towards a generic middle-class accent closer to “estuary English” (i.e., the generic London accent).

]]>By: Anonymoushttp://boingboing.net/2007/09/18/brain-surgery-change.html#comment-18916
Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000#comment-18916The linguist in me twitches for the interchanging use of “dialect” and “accent” in this article. It’s highly likely that the boy lost the accent, but probably not all of his dialect.
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